By now, interested voters have seen all of the yard signs and newspaper ads. They’ve possibly attended or read the coverage of the various political forums and formed opinions about which candidates they support in next Tuesday’s election.

The general primaries — both the Republican and Democratic primaries are Tuesday — are not generating a lot of local excitement, but there are two races in the Republican Primary that stand out over the others. Those are the races for chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners and the BOC District 2 race, and whoever wins Tuesday will be elected to office because there are no Democratic candidates.

For chairman of the board of commissioners, Hunter Bicknell appears best qualified to lead Jackson County for four years. Bicknell has proven to be a consensus builder during his tenure on the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority, helping improve relations between that important board and the board of commissioners — and between the authority and the municipal governments. That kind of relationship building is needed on the board of commissioners.

Both of his opponents have criticized the water and sewerage authority Bicknell chairs for not making money. In doing so, they display a lack of understanding that makes their candidacies suspect. The authority will never make money as long as it must build sewer lines — which has been forced upon it by the board of commissioners. The payoff for that expense accrues to the county government and the county school system from industrial development, and it has been substantial.

Do not expect Bicknell to make important decisions quickly. His method of operation is to hear from all parties and all viewpoints, and in doing so he builds trust and cooperation.

Improving intergovernmental relations is also why Chas Hardy stands out for the District 2 seat on the board of commissioners. The son of Commerce Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr., he can help the BOC repair its relationship not just with Commerce, but also with all the municipal governments.

If elected, Hardy’s job won’t be to represent the interests of Commerce to the BOC, but to make sure the concerns of all the municipalities are taken into consideration and that residents of the municipalities get as much return from their county tax dollars as do residents of the unincorporated areas. Having someone exposed to the issues and concerns facing both the county government and the city governments will be good for the board of commissioners. With nine municipalities, the BOC needs better working relationships than it currently has. Hardy can be instrumental in forming the alliances that will pay dividends to the county and its cities and towns.

County government is increasingly complex as the county and its municipalities grow. Having commissioners who can work well with each other and with the nine municipalities is crucial to Jackson County’s future. Bicknell and Hardy are both well-suited for the jobs they seek.

Other candidates deserving of your support include Brad Smith for district attorney and Stan Evans for sheriff, based on their experience. But whatever your inclinations, they don’t matter if you don’t vote. Go to the polls Tuesday and express your opinion for the candidates you think are best suited for leadership.

We don't have a choice in district 2 for commissioner. On the one hand, we've got JThompson, who has no clue and couldn't qualify for a tricycle license. On the other hand is CHardy who will be a Sammy Thomason clone and do the bidding of the city of Commerce without thought of what's best for the rest of district 2 (much less what's best for the whole county). Both are pretty good guys but neither should hold public office. I miss Pat Bell already.

That's hilarious! I miss Pat too. I do think Thompson is a little smarter than you give him credit. He has grown alot under Pat's leadership. The Hardy thing just plain out scares me. I know the family and went to school in Commerce, but I don't think its a good idea, too much power. I attended a meeting about the dogs and Thompson sounded like the only intelligent one there. You can tell he is rebel, but Pat obviously has shown him the way to fight!

I have been at many of the meetings and Thompson is a whiz at the zoning meetings. It is like none of the others even know what is going on. Even the planning commission member will tell you that. Go ask them!

tferrell...if your talking about Bear Creek the loan was taken out by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners NOT the Water Authority !
If you sign for a loan YOUR responsible for it...next time do a little research ,don't listen to the foolish ramblings of Beatty and Johnson. The Water Authority PAYS for the Water they get from Bear Creek they don't own it....who set this whole mess up former BOC commissioners NOT Hunter Bicknell.
The currant Water Authority board took over a complete mess someone else made...don't blame the sins of the father on the son. Amen.

And who is Mr. Beardsley's neighbor? Mr. Hardy. No chance of him being objective with his neighbor and former employer's son! I don't know why people do not listen to meetings on the radio. I used to think very poorly of Thompson (I was a staunch Sammy supporter), but after listening to the meetings, he is heads and shoulders above the rest.

I do disagree that Hardy is a Sammy clone. Sammy was a very intelligent leader who just got mixed into the wrong group on the BOC and locally. Hardy is no where near his level. But even Sammy said Thompson has not done a bad job.

I am retired and have too much time on my hands, but I have used that time to get more interested in local politics. If you can catch the debates on the cable channel, you may have a different opinion of the candidates than what this editor suggests.

You are so correct on that Larry! Hardy does not "deserve" anything. This paper has been more than biased in this editorial. I have been reading for months on why Thomspon should get the vote. This editor quickly changed his tune when his neighbor jumped into the race.

We can only pray that the voters will see through this. It is all about power!

Dear #3.1: Anonymous,
Would your real name happen to be Jody Thompson aka "The Whiner"? Your comments appear reminiscent of the peevish complaints found on his myspace.com. A suggestion for Jody is to get back on the porch, and allow the big dogs to take care of business for a change, a much-needed one.

Jackson County just went back in time a couple of decades. Hello Good ole' Boy government, good bye common sense!

Add Comment

Name

Email

Homepage

In reply to

Comment

Phone*

What is six minus five?

E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:

Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.